Al-Sweady inquiry clears soldiers – but more torture cases expected

Allegations that British soldiers murdered Iraqis and mutilated their bodies after a battle in Iraq were rejected by an inquiry at the end of last year. But it found that soldiers abused prisoners and that troops breached the Geneva convention.

The al-Sweady inquiry—named after an Iraqi teenager killed by British soldiers—concluded that troops were guilty of mistreating detainees.

Sir Thayne Forbes, a former high court judge, found the most serious allegations made against the soldiers were “wholly and entirely without merit or justification”.

The inquiry looked at the aftermath of the battle of Danny Boy, named after a British checkpoint near Majar al-Kabir, north of Basra, on 14 May 2004.

Twenty bodies as well as nine captured Iraqis were brought to a British base called Camp Abu Naji.